Channel 7 commentary whinge thread 2018-19

[peternorth]

Isa's hot though

 

[Gethelred]

That's not it at all. The Perth pitch hasn't received criticism because it favoured bowlers. It has received criticism because it had severely variable bounce from the very first day, which came and went at random times in the match.

Not only does that detract from the game as a contest of skill (resulting in random wickets that owe little to the skill of the bowler or the failings of the batsman) but - more importantly - it's bloody unsafe. Vertical movement is far more dangerous than lateral movement. Not knowing if a ball is going to slam into your groin or take off your head after it hits the pitch makes it very, very difficult to evade or play safely.

I am all for dustbowls and seamers and greentops. I also don't mind a pitch showing some cracks and variable bounce on the fifth day. But dismissals like Harris's shouldn't be occurring in the second session of a match.

A good pitch can favour the bowlers, but it also has to play true.

Unsafe?

You want to know what's unsafe? The umpire, standing at the other end of a 22 foot wicket when it's as flat as it is in a T20. Unsafe is insisting that, to play for the national side as a pace bowler, you must bowl above 135 km, so as a consequence if there is a skerrick wrong with your action you're going to suffer from ankle and shoulder issues from trying to fling it so fast, and your head's down from the force of you trying to get it to the other end so you're actually in front of said umpire when you release the thing, with your balance compromised, and with your eyes down for that split second.

Cricket is not a safe sport. You play with a hard ball, that can be bowled at speeds of greater than 155km per hour, and when struck can travel faster. You are expected to catch the thing when it's travelling that quickly, or to play it with naught but the piece of wood in your hands. You can get injured, provided you are in the wrong place at the right time, by a slow medium; in a game I participated in not two weeks ago, an old timer who had been cracking fours through square leg all day missed one, and because he wasn't wearing a helmet he now has a hole where his cheekbone was, and the bowler was barely cracking 85-90km/h. You have people standing within 5 metres of the batsman, either side of the wicket; sure, they're wearing a helmet, but that doesn't stop the ball thudding into your sternum, your ribs, your neck; it didn't stop that bail going through Mark Boucher's sunglasses.

You want a safe sport, go play/watch something else. This deck was a test for the batsmen involved, and given the name of the format I'd actually think that was the point.

 

[Gough]

This was a dangerous pitch.

 

[Demosthenes]

You want a safe sport, go play/watch something else. This deck was a test for the batsmen involved, and given the name of the format I'd actually think that was the point.

You talk about it being a test. In what sense?

The Harris dismissal doesn't reflect badly on him as a batsman, nor does it reflect well on Vihiri as a bowler. It was just a completely random unplayable ball thrown up by the pitch. How is that good for cricket?

I don't really see the point in adding an unsafe element to the sport that simultaneously subtracts from the game as a contest of skill.

 

[Gethelred]

You talk about it being a test. In what sense?

The Harris dismissal doesn't reflect badly on him as a batsman, nor does it reflect well on Vihiri as a bowler. It was just a completely random unplayable ball thrown up by the pitch. How is that good for cricket?

I don't really see the point in adding an unsafe element to the sport that simultaneously subtracts from the game as a contest of skill.

My brother used to do that on concrete, regularly. He'd just hit the seam, with his leg breaks, and it'd pop like a mother*er.

Harris tried to cut something, too close to his body. He made a mistake, and he paid for it with his wicket; the delivery was only unsafe in the way that all deliveries are unsafe; if you play the ball badly, you're either going out or you're getting hurt. Why's he trying to cut something on off stump from a fingerspinner on day 2 in Australia; that ball ain't spinning, and it was always going to get some bounce on that deck. No need to try and force something of that kind of a line through the off side.

I've a question for you; why no credit to Vihari here? Good line, good length, brought about the false shot. The pitch might've resulted in that ball climbing the way it did, but he still has to hit the seam, and he still has to place it in the right area to draw the shot.

More to the point, how is it not good for cricket? Harris get injured, did he?

Honestly. There was a test match, in Sri Lanka, before our disastrous last tour, where Michael Clarke made what I'd consider to be his greatest test century, on a pitch that got censored for being too one sided. The test took 4 days, and his was the only 100 on the thing, but it was utterly captivating watching the bowlers completely on top for once, and watching the best bats in the world - of which Clarke was one at the time - try to negotiate it and win the game for their sides. That pitch was probably a bit too far, but there needs to be more challenge to the surfaces in test cricket than there is currently. It's good that India, SA and England have taken the concept of pitch doctoring to such a level as to open up opportunities for the opposition spinners and quicks to exploit, and while I hope we don't pitch doctor to the same extent I rather hope we see more matches that actually test the skills of batsmen that have lived without being tried to date.

 

[Demosthenes]

The wicket wasn't a result of the ball doing something Vihari had intended it to do, so it is hard to give him much credit for it. Random variable bounce is different from intentionally extracting natural variation from cracks or footmarks.

It's possible to produce extremely challenging pitches to bat on, that nonetheless play true. England and sometimes India do it well. We have produced some crackers in Australia - generally at the WACA and Bellerive, sometimes at the SCG.

I hate roads as much as the next fan, but simply being difficult to bat on doesn't make a pitch good.

 

[gordo2016]

Love how people want to s**t on Channel 7 so much, they’re now complaining about Mitchell and Lane

The coverage is so much better than 9. Yes Slats isn’t ideal at all, but both stations have their downsides. Talking crap about Mitchell and Lane is baffling, to say the least - IMO at the least on par with Isa, who everybody seems to froth over

Anyone who has breath in them would be frothing over Isa. She's smart, played the game at the highest level and asks intelligent questions to the test legends sitting alongside her. I don't mind Lane and Alison at all but Slater, McGrath and Fleming having nothing to offer and spoil the 7 coverage for me. Isa has everything to offer and I would rather pay for fox then watch 7.

 

[STFU Donnie]

10 Minutes into the BBL coverage and I'm already sick to death of the phrase 'Bash Brothers'

For the record, these are the Bash Brothers - Mark McGwire (left) and Jose Canseco, from the Oakland Athletics.

 

[hawkman]

Why is Slater shouting the whole time

 

[nobbyiscool]

10 Minutes into the BBL coverage and I'm already sick to death of the phrase 'Bash Brothers'

For the record, these are the Bash Brothers - Mark McGwire (left) and Jose Canseco, from the Oakland Athletics.

View attachment 596943

Wrong!

 

[Danger in Texas]

To be honest Slats is much more suited to BBL than to the tests, one thing that he can do is build excitement (similar to Howie in a way)

They should make him a permanent BBL caller

 

[Leeda]

Why is Slater shouting the whole time

maybe he just needs to be told that people have a volume control... he is a very astute caller for the most part...

 

[Oriolis]

First game watching the bbl on 7. Graphics and scorebug look as cheap and pathetic as expected. Slater with his fake excitement and over the top commentary is nauseating. Already missing the channel 10 boys who had a natural feel for the bbl vibe and good chemistry. Going to be a long season!

 

[Leeda]

First game watching the bbl on 7. Graphics and scorebug look as cheap and pathetic as expected. Slater with his fake excitement and over the top commentary is nauseating. Already missing the channel 10 boys who had a natural feel for the bbl vibe and good chemistry. Going to be a long season!

commentary is a problem but do we need the commentators to grab us and lift us to enormous heights..

just watching is enough.. surely.

 

[Heisenberg_]

Slater is terrible at calling the T20, stop trying to generate excitement

 

[Leeda]

Slater is terrible at calling the T20, stop trying to generate excitement

that is surely a channel seven thing.. they are grand masters of the hyperbole..

 

[Deathray]

10 Minutes into the BBL coverage and I'm already sick to death of the phrase 'Bash Brothers'

For the record, these are the Bash Brothers - Mark McGwire (left) and Jose Canseco, from the Oakland Athletics.

View attachment 596943

Thanks for alerting us to the fact that Americans thought of first and applied it to a juicefreak and his compadre.

 

[Leeda]

Thanks for alerting us to the fact that Americans thought of first and applied it to a juicefreak and his compadre.

ooh don't palm it off on someone else.. just well.. keep on going and then the audience will ...

 

[010203]

Slats will be horse the way he's going off whenever the Heat appeal.

 

[Agent93]

Welp, 7+Slater's gonna kill my love for the BBL.

 

[troybe]

Slater getting an absolute pasting on twitter about his commentary. Most people just saying he should * off. One ******* went so far as to say he'd prefer BT or Basil, must've had a few cones before posting


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Leeda]

Slats will be horse the way he's going off whenever the Heat appeal.

riding the pony wasn't quite what I meant but if it works...

charging all full frontal and raising the flag... there are a few things to deal with...

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Game didn't help but this has been bad.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

To be honest Slats is much more suited to BBL than to the tests, one thing that he can do is build excitement (similar to Howie in a way)

They should make him a permanent BBL caller

* off he needs to fade out with test cricket.

 

[Kram]

Why is Slater shouting the whole time

I think he needs to be louder, angrier and have access to a time machine.